OAK VIEW : Casitas to Stock 1,500 Steelhead

Lake Casitas will be stocked with three- to five-pound steelhead trout by the middle of March, officials said Friday.

“We’re going to make quite a splash with fish this size,” said Bill Hicks, new director of the Casitas Municipal Water District. “It’s pretty outstanding to have fish that size so close to home.”

The water board, which manages Lake Casitas, originally ordered a new strain of crappie to plant in the lake at the end of the month. But the available fish were several inches smaller than hoped for.

“The feeling was they would just be expensive bait for the big-mouths,” Casitas General Manager John Johnson said, referring to big-mouth bass.

So the board decided to order 1,500 steelhead from Bodega Fisheries instead of $10,000 worth of crappie.

The steelhead may be easier to catch than big-mouth bass, but they put up quite a fight once they are hooked, said Richard Hajas, assistant general manager of the water district.